Conclusion -- Have we learned anything from the word of God concerning when the rapture will be?
1. No one knows the day or the hour -- so far this verse is batting 1,000. However, Jesus does not say no one knows the year or the season or the generation. So what I would say we have learned from this is that Jesus is telling us that we can put most of the puzzle together from the word of God, but not all, there will be a few pieces missing that you will not find in the Bible, you will not find them in Enoch, you won't find those pieces in any manuscript written at that time.
2. Watch -- this makes sense. There are many signs that we should watch for and will be able to see. Israel is reformed as a nation marking the generation that will see the fulfillment of all these things. A generation is 80 years in the event of rebellion, so it will be 80 years from May of 1948 for all these things to be fulfilled. However, "all these things" was referring to Jesus returning in great glory in the clouds, and every eye seeing Him. It was not referring to the end of Armageddon battle, or the end of the 70th week or the end of the tribulation. If you feel it will be six months from the Lord returning in great glory in the clouds to the end of the tribulation, then this would mean the tribulation must begin in the Fall of 2022. That would be my understanding.
3. Signs -- we have had several very large signs of the end of the age. In 2017 at Feast of Trumpets we saw the Revelation 12 sign with the woman clothed with the Sun, the moon under her feet and with a crown of 12 stars in travail to give birth. Like the days of Noah when Noah's father died 5 years before the flood, this warning seems to be our five year warning. The Pandemic coming 19 years after 9/11 is another major sign given us in Joel. We are told that there will be this army of "insects" even though that is clearly an analogy, that marches through the whole earth eating up the entire economy. That at this time God declares a worldwide Sabbath, a fast. This is a worldwide shutdown that can be compared to the Jordan River standing and allowing the children of Israel to cross. Because of the shutdown people were given more time to be in the word, to be focusing on these signs and as a result this entire Watchman community blossomed and sprung forth. I would say that was our three year warning with the earliest signs of the Pandemic being in the Fall of 2019. Then on the Feast of Trumpets, 2022, five red heifers were delivered to Israel (they came out of quarantine on September 25th, the start of the Feast of Trumpets). This should be seen as a major trumpet blast announcing the coming of the king. At the same time rabbis in Israel and the US announced they were meeting with the Messiah. This is another prophecy that during the tribulation the false prophet rises out of Israel.
4. Bible verses -- The Bible teaches consistently and in many places that the rapture at the end of the age is a harvest of the believers. The believers are likened to wheat being gathered together and brought to the barn or the Lord's house. Ruth is a type of the marriage of the Gentile bride to the Lord during the harvest season. Song of Songs describes this harvest season being the time of the rapture. Paul says that the feasts of the Lord are a shadow of things to come. The Fall feasts are a shadow of the coming of the King at the harvest season. Then in Jeremiah it says that "the summer is over and we are not saved". We understand Jeremiah to be a prophecy to those who are left behind after the rapture and this verse seems to indicate this happens when the summer is over. Israel has two seasons, summer and winter. Technically the summer is over halfway between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. That would be approximately six and a half weeks after the equinox which is September 22. That would be around November 8th which is a full moon. In proverbs we are told that the good man of the house returns on the appointed day, and that phrase appointed day refers to a full moon. Then
Revelation 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; 13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
At the rapture all the graves of the dead in Christ are opened and when the Manchild is caught up to heaven the fallen angels are cast down to earth. If you look at the sun through sackcloth of hair you can see some light, he is describing a partial eclipse followed two weeks later by a blood moon. Now it just so happens that on October 25th we had a very special annular eclipse of the sun, one that has not happened for hundreds if not thousands of years and will not happen again for hundreds if not thousands of years. An annular eclipse is a partial eclipse that leaves a ring of fire and in this particular case there was a conjunction with Venus that made this ring look like an engagement ring with Venus being the stone on that ring. November 8th we will have a blood moon. So this is rare to have this extremely rare annular eclipse followed by a blood moon. However, this is the fourth in a set of four blood moons that have taken place on Passover and Sukkot in order. Whenever this happens it has always been very significant in Israel's history. To make this even more significant this is the second set of four of these blood moons on Israel feast days in the last seven years, so this is the 8th blood moon. In the bible 8 signifies a new beginning. One of the most difficult verses in the New Testament is in Luke which says that Jesus went up on the mount of transfiguration about the 8th day because Matthew says it is after the sixth day. We have calculated that it has been 6,000 years since Adam in 2017. So right now it is "after six days". If the transfiguration of the rapture takes place on the 8th blood moon it would also be "about the eighth day".
5. Dreams and Visions -- there have been many, many dreams and visions suggesting that the rapture takes place during a lunar eclipse or a blood moon. We were told in Joel that the pouring out of dreams and visions would also be a sign of the end of the age. This could explain
Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
The Lord said that no one knew the hour He was coming, but that was 2,000 years ago. He never said He wouldn't give us a heads up, in fact He said He would speak to us through dreams and visions. We are also told
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
So this solves the puzzle. We are commanded to watch. We are told we can see the signs of His coming even to know the year and the season. However we will not know the day until He gives us a heads up through dreams and visions, revealing that secret to His servants the prophets.
This also explains this verse
2Timothy 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
This is how you know who loves His appearing.